The Last Goodbye
by ElissaCousland
Summary: "It wasn't supposed to be this way." Warning for character death.


-The Last Goodbye-

It wasn't supposed to be this way.

If a hero lives, they get to live. That is just the way of things, no?

_Why, then?_

_Why?_ the red-headed bard wondered for the hundred-thousandth time, the word stabbing through her grief-stricken heart with the viciousness of ultimate betrayal. Andraste had betrayed her. _The Maker_, had betrayed her.

That was what hurt her most. After all they'd fought for, everything they'd been through, and everyone they'd lost, in the end, they had triumphed. That was supposed to be the way the story ended.

They had adventures to go on. A happily ever to have after.

Leliana brushed back a few hairs that had strayed across her beloved's forehead. Fresh tears stinging her vision as she struggled to choke down a breath. Her love lay motionless on the bed, propped against pillows that appeared far too bright against the graying pallor of the Warden's skin.

Her tears spilled as she pulled her fingers away from that cold, cold touch. It wasn't supposed to be this way. They had won. All of Thedas was in celebration of their victory. Two short weeks ago the darkspawn threat retreated into the Deep Roads forever. A day they had shared afterward, and then it happened.

The Warden fell ill.

Alistair, the new King of Ferelden, sent out a Royal Summons, demanding a healer from every teyrn, arling, and outlying land in the kingdom. Every one gave the same diagnosis.

Even the Sacred Ashes had not helped.

Through the long-wearing days, Leliana stayed adamantly at her lover's side, sleeping by the Warden at those times when weariness finally took her to the Fade. She would speak to her love there, promising, hoping, -_praying_- for a cure to come. As the days wore on, the Warden stopped responding to the bard, even in dreams.

Leliana could hear the people outside -as the sun shone brightly, as storms darkened the skies with thunder's frightening rumble, as clouds dotted the heavens and gave momentary shade through the only window in the room-talking, laughing, singing, joking. While her love's eyes grew empty day by day.

Did they not know how unfair it was? Such a short time she had known her love, when compared to the years before, and the loneliness she would soon face, evermore.

What wretched curse such as this to befall her beloved? One that stole the Warden's days, sucked away life unto the dreary abyss. A wasting disease that no cleric, healer, or mage could cure.

The bard startled at a familiar form making intrusion into the room. Wynne's countenance bore sadness, her eyes filled with empathy for the younger woman. Leliana leaned into her breast and cried even before the woman spoke a word. Wynne held her and let her cry.

When Leliana's tears had subsided, Wynne finally spoke, her voice holding a dreaded certainty.

"They can do no more,"

Beyond Wynne, through the doorway, the bard could see the pale, exhausted faces of the dozen or so mages she had seen working tirelessly all this time to hold together the magic keeping the Warden alive.

Leliana nodded, choking on sobs once more, but held the old woman tighter against her, as if not willing to let go just yet. Wynne stroked her hair and whispered meaningless reassurances.

"It is time. Your beloved goes to the Golden City. 'Tis a much better place than this wretched world,"

Leliana's grip tightened futher. "Please," she begged, hot tears trailing her cheeks, " give me a moment. To say a final goodbye,"

Wynne only nodded and quietly left.

Leliana stood there for a long time, just watching the Warden breathe in a state of induced stasis. Rain tapped relentlessly on the glass pane of the window. Thunderheads rolled mightily above. The Warden was dying. Yet the world moved on. And she could not.

Leliana could not breathe.

She stared unblinking across the room, never taking her eyes from her beloved Warden. Her fingers clasped a vial from her side pouch. She didn't have to look. She knew it by the shape. She unlatched the clasp. Closing her eyes, she bid a final farewell to all her familiar faces.

"Goodbye, my friends."

* * *

A/N: This is just a quick little one-shot, I'm trying to focus my muse on my long-neglected DA story, so hopefully it will work. I've had a few tingles in that direction, but nothing solid so far. This particular peice was inspired by an afternoon of listening to "Anthem of the Angels" by Breaking Benjamin. So, that's about it on this one, let me know if you liked it, hated it, thought it could be longer or whatever. Thanks!


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